Incarnational Discipleship

I am just listing these schools. PLEASE DO NOT TRY TO CONTACT ME ABOUT ADMISSION OR SCHOLARSHIPS SINCE I AM NOT A SOURCE FOR EITHER.Inquire directly with the individual institution–Click through the links to the websites of the particular seminary or theological college.

I. Europe and the Middle East

Although Baptists began in Europe (the Netherlands and England) in the 17th C., in most of Europe, we are still a tiny minority and in many places have no theological schools of our own–or even in partnership with others.. Many throughout Europe attend the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Prague, Czech Republic, which is owned and operated by the entire European Baptist Federation. Since the 1990s, Baptist theological education has been strengthened throughout much of Europe–often by combining resources with other Free Church groups, especially Pentecostals.

Arab Baptist Theological Seminary, Beirut, Lebanon. Mailing address: P.O. Box 60, Mansourieh-Maten-Lebanon. Founded in October 1960 by Scottish Baptist missionaries, it is now affiliated with the Lebanese Baptist Society for Education. For 50 years, ABTS has served not only Baptists but the education of Christian ministers throughout the Middle East and North Africa. A member of the Consortium of European Baptist Theological Schools, ABTS also has formal partnerships with the Beirut Inter-School Consortium (BISC), and the Middle East Association of Theological Education (MEATE). Current President Eli Haddad is a Lebanese-Canadian with dual citizenship. Instruction is in Arabic and English.

Baptist Theological Institute of Sofia, Bulgaria. Part of the Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute (BETI). The website is broken.)

The Bible Institute of the Baptist Church of Bosnia-Herzogovina, Sarajevo, Bosnia. No Website.

Bristol Baptist College Clifton Down, Bristol, United Kingdom BSJ 3NJ. Founded in 1679, this is the oldest Baptist institution of higher education. Grew out of the education ministry of Broadmead Baptist Chapel. Now part of the Federation of Bristol Theological Colleges and associated with the University of Bristol.

Hoyskolen for Ledelse og Teologi(HLT–School for Leadership and Theology), Michelets Path 62a, DK 1368, Stabekk, Norway. This is a merger of the Baptist Theological Seminary at Oslo (SALT–Scandinavian Academy of Leadership and Theology) and Philadelphia–the theological college of Norwegian Pentecostals. The merger happened in 2008. HLT is offering university accredited degrees in theology and in church management. Undergraduate and seminary level degrees offered. HLT is seeking connections with the University of Oslo for post-graduate degrees.

Baptista Teologiai Akademia, 1068 Budapest, Benczur utica 31 Hungary.Founded in 1901, but growing out of educational efforts in the late 19th C.–including from German Baptist missionaries.

International Baptist Theological Seminary of the European Baptist Federation, Nad Habrovkou 3, 164 00 Prav 6, Czech Republic. After World War II, European Baptists and Southern Baptists jointly founded this seminary at Ruschlikon (near Zurich) Switzerland. In 1989 the Southern Baptists pulled out and IBTS became wholly owned and operated by the European Baptist Federation. Because of high costs and high restrictions on student visas in Switzerland, the school moved to Prague, Czech Republic. Classes are in English and degrees are ratified by the University of Wales (Cardiff) and the Czech Ministry of Education. IBTS has formal partnerships with both the Protestant Theological Faculty and the Hussite Theological Faculty at the historic Charles University (1348), with Spurgeon’s College (London), the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (Beirut, Lebanon), the Lithuanian Baptist non-residential Bible School, and Tartu Theological Seminary. It is developing formal partnerships with John Leland Theological Centre (Northern Virginia, USA), and with Christopher Newport University (Newport News, VA). Financial and scholarship relationships exist with several European Baptist denominations, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (USA), the American Baptist Churches, USA, BMS World Mission (formerly known as the Baptist Missionary Society of Baptist Union of Great Britain, the oldest Baptist mission agency in the world), and reSource Leadership International (a Canadian agency that develops partnerships in global theological education, especially the developing world). Students come from all over the world, as do visiting professors and the permanent core faculty.

Irish Baptist College, The Baptist Centre, 19 Hillsborough Road, MOIRA BT67 0HG Northern Ireland, UK. The official seminary of the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland. (15 miles from Belfast.) Offers both undergraduate and post-graduate degrees. Undergraduate: Diploma in Theology, B.Th., and B.D. (Greek and Hebrew–validated by Queens University, Belfast). Postgraduate: Master of Theology (taught degree through the Queens University, Belfast’s Institute of Theology), M.Phil, and Ph.D. research degrees in conjunction with either Queens University Belfast or the University of Wales at Lampateer. M.A., M.Min., and D.Min. degrees validated by the University of Wales at Lampeteer. Irish Baptist College is a full component college of Queen’s University Belfast’s Institute of Theology.

Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary (JETS), Ismaeel Al Nabulsi St., Bldg. #7, Swafiyeh, Amman, Jordan. A multi-denominational Christian seminary in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, sanctioned by King Abdullah and the Jordanian government in 1995. Accredited by the European Evangelical Accrediting Association, the Middle East Association for Theological Education (MEATE), and the Asia Theological Association. Although non-denominational, Baptists form a significant part of the faculty and students and JETS is part of the Consortium of European Baptist Theological Schools.

Moscow Theological Seminary, Perovskaya St. 4a, Moscow, Russia. The leading seminary of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists. Rooted in a seminary founded by Russian Baptists in 1905, but was closed by the Soviet Union in 1929, MTS was re-founded in 1991–although initially located Odessa. Significant funding and support comes from Russian Leadership Ministries in the USA. Branches exist in several parts of Russia: Chelabinsk, Noyabyrsk, Chita City, Leninsk-Kuznetskiy and more planned on Rostov-on-Don and Prokhladniy.

Nazareth Evangelical Theological Seminary P.O. Box 50105, Nazareth 16100 Israel (the Occupied Territories). Formerly known as the Nazareth Center for Christian Studies that was founded by the Association of Baptist Churches in Israel, NETS was reorganized into its current form in 2007. It is now an independent, multi-denominational Christian theological seminary. Degrees are accredited through Spurgeon’s College, London and the International Baptist Theological Seminary, Prague.

Northern Baptist Learning Community, Manchester, UK. Luther King House, Brighton Grove, Rusholme, Manchester, UK M14 5JP In 1964, Manchester Baptist College (1866) merged with Rawdon College (1805) to form Northern Baptist College. Previously Midland Baptist College (1797), founded by Dan Taylor and the New Connexion General Baptists, merged with Rawdon because WWII had led to the bankruptcy of MBC. Part of the Partnership of Theological Education (PTE) in Manchester a consortium of 5 theological colleges: Northern BaptistLearning Community, Northern College (United Reformed Church and Congregationalist Churches), Hartley Victoria College (Methodist and Primitive Methodist), Luther King House Open College (non-denominational), Unitarian College Manchester. Many students also prepare for degrees at the University of Bristol.

Odessa Theological Seminary, P.O. Box 3, Odessa, 65066 Ukraine. Founded by Baptists in 1989 as one of the first seminaries of the Commonwealth of Independent States in post-Communist Eastern Europe. Run by the Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, Ukraine.

Regent’s Park College, Oxford University, Pusey Street, Oxford OX1 2LB UK. The London Baptist Education Society formed n 1752, when those who were not members of the Church of England were still barred from studying at the historic universities. In 1810, that society formed Stepford Academy in East London to prepare Baptist ministers for ministry. In 1856, it moved to Regent’s Park area of London and worked to affiliate itself with University College, London–the first institution of higher education in Britain without a religious test for teaching or enrollment. After the Education Act of 1870 finally allowed “Nonconformists” (i.e., non-Anglicans) attend all universities, Baptists were instrumental in the formation of the University of London and Regent’s Park initially became a Divinity College of the University of London in 1901. In 1927, however, Regent’s Park moved to Oxfordshire and affiliated with Britain’s oldest university–and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the world (12th C.–no exact date of founding for Oxford University). Today, Regent’s Park College is a Permanent Private Hall of Oxford University, acting as both a Baptist seminary and an undergraduate member college (Arts degrees, not Science degrees) with specialization in theology, philosophy, and, increasingly English. Faculty are also members of the Oxford University Faculty of Theology, but there are no religious tests for students–except those preparing for the Baptist ministry. This is one of the finest Baptist seminaries in the world connected to the finest university in the English language. .

Scottish Baptist College, K202 High Street, Paisley PA1 2BE Scotland. Located at and with a collaborative relationship to the University of the West of Scotland (formerly Paisley University). Students register at both the college and university–which validates the Bachelor of Divinity (equivalent to a U.S. Master of Divinity) of the College. Originally founded in 1894 at Glasgow. Owned and operated by the Baptist Union of Scotland, but also counted as one of the member colleges of the Baptist Union of Great Britain.

Seminario Teologico de la Union Evangelica Bautista de Espana (STEUBE). Calle Marques de la Valdavia, 134, 28100, Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain. Baptists (and all Protestants ) are few in number in heavily Catholic Spain and members of Baptist churches tend to have less educational opportunities. Most pastors are bi-vocational or second career. STEUBE offers education at what would be undergraduate or Bible Institute level in the U.S., but prepares for postgraduate education through IBTS (Prague). The quality of the faculty is high and there connections to the School of the Science of Religions, University of Madrid, so chances of the expansion and improvement of STEUBE are great.

Spurgeon’s College 189 South Norwood Hill, London SE25 6DJ U.K. Founded by famed English Baptist pastor Charles Spurgeon in 1856 as “Pastor’s College,” the college did not leave the Baptist Union of Great Britain when Spurgeon did himself. Although originally separatist and fundamentalist in spirit, Spurgeon’s have evolved over its 15o year history into a mainstream British evangelical and Baptist college, today offering both undergraduate and theological degrees (up through the Ph.D.) Once if students wanted to go beyond ministerial formation at Spurgeon’s to university degrees, they could only prepare for University of London degrees (the first university open to “Nonconformists,” i.e., non-Anglicans). Today, Spurgeon’s is accredited by the British Accreditation Council (BAC) as an Independent Higher Education Institution.

South Wales Baptist College (Cardiff). 54 Richmond Road, Cardiff, CF24 3UR, Wales, UK. Founded in 1807 and formally connected to both the Baptist Union of Wales and the Baptist Union of Great Britain. Because the college is fully integrated into the University of Wales (Cardiff), students are able to pursue B.A., B.Th., M.A., M.Th., M.Phil., and Ph.D. degrees. College faculty are jointly faculty of the Cardiff University School of Religious and Theological Studies.

Teologiska Hogskola Stockholm, Akeshov Road 29, 168 39 Bromma, Stockholm, Sweden. The Swedish Baptist Seminary (1866) merged in 1993 with seminaries from the Methodist Church of Sweden and the Swedish Mission Church (Pentecostal) to form THS (the Stockhold School of Theology), a stronger seminary responsible to all three Free Church denominations. In 1996, THS won the right to offer a university-level Bachelor’s degrees in theology. Today, it also offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees in human rights. Through affiliations with universities in the Nordic/Scandinavian countries, THS also offers post-graduate theological degrees (M.A., Ph.D./Th.D.). It’s strong emphasis on human rights, democracy and peacebuilding has attracted wide attention well beyond the small Free Church denominations which run THS, but THS insists that the human rights and democracy courses are rooted in a theological perspective.

St. Petersburg Christian University Navarsky Pr. 13B, P.O. Box 211, St. Petersburg, 190020 Russia. Founded in 1990 as one of the first (post-Communist) Christian institutions of higher education in Russia. The focus is on education for Christian ministry and SPbCU offers bachelor’s and masters degrees in several theological and ministry-related fields. There is an international program in English and SPbCU also works to give its students experiences studying overseas, especially in the U.S. Although ecumenical in origin and practice, Russian law requires institutions of this type to be registered with and responsible to a recognized religious denomination. Therefore, in 1998, SPbCU became a registered institution of religious education of the Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists and is a member of the Consortium of European Baptist Schools of Theology.

Tartu Higher Theological Seminary (Korgem Usuteaduslik Seminar/KUS) Annemoisa 8, 50708 Tartu, Estonia. Founded by Baptist pastor Adam Sputter in 1922 for the education of Baptist ministers in Estonia, first in Sputter’s home in Keila, but transferred to Tartu in 1932. Closed during WWII and unable to reopen due to Communist takeover. Reopened in 1989 after the nonviolent revolution in Estonia in Tallin under the name “Higher Theological Seminary.” Moved back to Tartu. This is the official seminary of the Estonian Evangelical Christian Baptist Churches, but students come from wider backgrounds. In addition to IBTS, the Tartu HTS (or KUS) has strong ties to schools in Germany, Sweden, Finland, and the USA. University level degrees in theology and biblical studies (equivalent to U.S. Master of Divinity degrees) by Tartu HTS are accredited with the national education agencies of Estonia.

Theologisches Seminar Estal (Fachhochschule) Johann Gerhard Oncken Strasse 7, 14641 Wustermark near Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1880 in Hamburg for the ministerial education of German Baptist pastors. The division of Germany after WWII led to the creation of a second seminary in Buckow in the former DDR (East Germany). In 1991, this seminary was merged with the seminary at Hamburg. In 1997 the Federation of Evangelical Free Church Congregations (which includes Baptists–Bundes Evangelical-Freikirchlicher Gemeinden in Deutchsland or “The Union of Evangelical Free Church Congregations in Germany) created the Elstal Education Center and the seminary (Fachhochschule) moved there. Since the seminary is a fully accredited college of higher learning in the German system. Faculty and many of the students also read for higher degrees (including doctorates and Habilitationschriften–the post-doctoral second dissertation required for teaching in German universities) in various German universities. German Baptists are among the highest educated Baptists in the world.

Theological Seminary of Armenia (TSA) Founded in 1998 on the campus of the Central Baptist Church in Yereven and originally called the Nazarene Bible College. First students graduated in 20o1. Owned and operated by the Armenian Evangelical Christian Baptist Church. (For a history of the Baptist movement in Armenia, click here.) Although elsewhere Baptists began separate educational insitutions and later pooled resources with other Christians, in Armenia, the original pan-Protestant efforts were frustrating as Armenian Baptists were trying to establish their identity after years of persecution by both Ottomon Turks and the USSR. So, the Nazarene Bible College evolved into the Theological Seminary of Armenia, which is wholly and identifiably Baptist.

Baptist Theological Seminary of the Netherlands Raadhuisplein 6.8, 3771 ER Barneveld, The Netherlands. Owned and operated by the Baptist Union of the Netherlands (Unie van Baptisten Gemeenten in Nederland), the seminary has ties with the Free University (Vrije Univesiteit) at Amsterdam, the Free or Independent university founded by the great Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper and closely connected to the Dutch Reformed Church. Currently the Baptist Union is exploring closer educational links between the Baptist Seminary and Azusa College, the Dutch Pentecostal seminary. It also has strong ties to both IBTS (Prague) and Spurgeon’s College (London). Since Baptists began 1609-1611 (and, again, 1638-1641) out of intense interaction between English Puritans and Dutch Anabaptists (Mennonites), I would like to see more cooperation between Dutch Baptists and Mennonites (Doopsgezinde) both in education and otherwise.

Warsaw Baptist Theological Seminary 04-812 Warsaw, ul. Szcytnowska 35-39 Poland. Founded in 1922, destroyed by WWII and Communism and re-founded in 1994 by the Baptist Union of the Republic of Poland. Offers one year certificates and three year diplomas as well as a Bachelor of Divinity recognized by the university system and Ministry of Education in Poland. Also operates 3 important institutes: An Institute of Anabaptist Studies, Catechetical Institute (for instruction in basic Protestant Christianity), and an Institute of Jewish Studies to foster better Jewish-Christian relations.

II. Asia.

Baptists are found in much of Asia, but usually in small numbers. One major exception is Nagaland in India. Although Christians in most of India are fewer than 1%, they are over 90% of Nagaland and Baptists are 75% of those Christians! The Karin and Kachin mountain peoples of Burma (Myanmar) are heavily Baptist (whereas most of the country is Buddhist) and would study at the ecumenical Myanmar Institute of Theology–but the oppression of the military government makes this difficult. Baptists comprise only about 10% of the populations of Australia and New Zealand, but a much higher percentage of active churchgoers in two very secularized nations. As in Canada, Australian Baptist Ministries (formerly the Baptist Union of Australia) is a federation of state unions only loosely coordinated at the national level. The theological colleges are more directly connected to the state/regional unions than to the national denomination.

Asia Baptist Graduate Theological Seminary. This is a consortium of 8 Baptist seminaries throughout Asia whose pooled resources allow them to offer more resources for students. Though many of these schools were founded by mission agencies (mostly from the U.S.), the guiding principle since 1960 has been for indigenous Asian leadership and direction. (After the fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention in the 1980s and early 1990s, it cut ties because it could not control these schools.) Georgia’s Mercer University is a key partner, as is the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, but neither attempts to control or export “colonial theology.” The member seminaries offer basic and professional degrees themselves and, through ABGTS, students may earn Th.M., D.Min., Doctor of Missiology, Doctor of Religious Education, Th.D., and Ph.D. degrees. Due to the untimely death of Singapore’s Dr. Lillian Lim, the first woman to head ABGTS (and a personal friend of mine) in 2009, there is currently a search for a new president. The member schools of ABGTS are: Baptist Theological Seminary of Indonesia, Baptist Theological Seminary, Singapore, Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary, Korea Baptist Theological Seminary, Japan Baptist Theological Seminary, Yokahoma, Japan, Department of Theology of Seinan Gakuan University, Japan, Philipine Baptist Theological Seminary, Inc., Taiwan Baptist Theological Seminary, and Thailand Baptist Theological Seminary.

Carey Baptist College, 473 Great South Road, Penrose, Auckland, New Zealand. Carey Baptist College is the theological college of the Baptist Churches of New Zealand (formerly the Baptist Union of New Zealand) founded in 1924. It houses two schools: The Carey School of Applied Theology and Mission offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees for missionaries, evangelists, and church planters. The R. J. Thompson Centre for Theological Studies prepares pastors and theological educators with undergraduate and ministerial degrees. The Laidlaw-Carey Graduate School is a joint operation with a Pentecostal institution to offer advanced research degrees that are accredited through the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, the Auckland College of Technology, and the Australian College of Theology. Carey has evolved from a Bible Institute in 1924 to a world class school of theology with high caliber faculty and innovative teaching approaches. It includes a Program in Chinese Ministries. Faculty are elected by the college, but must be approved by the New Zealand Baptist Churches at their annual assembly.

Department of Theology, Seinan Gakuin University, 241 Hoshikuma, Jounan-Ku, Fukuoka 814-8511 Japan. Founded in 1916 by the Japan Baptist Convention–one of two major Baptist bodies in Japan. Related historically to the Southern Baptist Convention. (The Japan Baptist Union is related historically to British Baptist and the American Baptist Churches, USA.) Founded by C. K. Dozier, a Southern Baptist missionary, but long operated by Japanese Baptists themselves. The university has Junior High and High School divisions, undergraduate liberal arts education and graduate programs in law, business, and the sciences as well as theology. It’s degrees are all accredited both nationally and by several international partner universities. The Department of Theology offers undergraduate degrees and the Master of Divinity–and postgraduate degrees through the Asia Graduate Baptist Theological Seminary.

Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary No. 1 Nin Ming Road, Sai O, North Sai Kung, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong (China). Founded in 1951 after Chinese Communists closed the 80 year old Leung Kwong Baptist Seminary in Guangzhou in 1950. In addition to various diploma programs, the seminary offers a B.A. in Pastoral Studies, Master of Divinity, Master of Religious Education, Master of Pastoral Counseling, Master of Christian Studies, and Master of Theology. It also offers advanced degrees through its membership in the Asia Graduate Baptist Theological Seminary. Most of the faculty are Chinese, all have advanced degrees and many have studied for those degrees in the U.K., Canada, the U.S., or Australia.

Japan Baptist Theological Seminary 1-24-9 Gumisawa, Totsuka-Ku, Yokohama City, 245-0016 JAPAN. This is the seminary of the Japan Baptist Union, which began in 1873 with the mission work of American (Northern) Baptists. In it’s current form, this seminary is recent dating only from 1996. But it dates back to the closing of the Kanto Gakuin University School of Theology in 1972 due to financial distress. In 1982 Kanto Gakuin University re-opened a “Missionary Training Center” which developed into the current Japan Baptist Theological Seminary. The seminary has attracted brilliant scholars, including some of the translators of the Common Translation Japanese Bible. It offers undergraduate and professional degrees, including the Master of Divinity. Through membership in Asia Graduate Baptist Theological Seminary, it also offers advanced degrees.

Korea Baptist Theological University/Seminary (KBTUS). San 14, Ha Ki Dong, Yusong Go, Daejeon, 305-358 (South) Korea. Began as the Baptist Bible Institute of Korea in 1953. Now offers an array of undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as, through AGBTS, postgraduate research degrees. The seminary has recently become more conservative in theology, reflecting trends imported to Korea from the Southern Baptist Convention, unfortunately.

Malaysia Baptist Theological Seminary, 40A-D, Mukim 17, Batu Ferringhi, 11100 Penang, Malaysia. Founded in 1954 with classes in both English and Chinese. In addition to undergraduate programs and programs for those without academic preparation, MBTS offers the Master of Theology (Biblical Studies), Master of Theology (Missions), Doctor of Ministry and Doctor of Missiology degrees. These graduate degrees have all been approved by the Asian Theological Association.

Malyon College 53 Prospect Road, Gaythorne, Queensland, Australia 4051. Mailing Address: P.O. Box 6166, Mitchelton, Queensland, Australia, 4053. Originally called the Queensland (then Association) of Queensland. Students without prior degrees study for a 3-yr. Bachelor of Ministry (B.Min.) while those with prior degrees study for either the 1 yr. Graduate Diploma of Theology or the 3 yr. Master of Divinity (M.Div.). Postgraduate Th.M. and M.Phil. degrees are also offered. All degrees are accredited through the ecumenical national consortium known as the Australian College of Theology (ACT).

Morling College, 123 Herring Road, Macquarrie Park, New South Wales 2113 Australia. Morling was founded in 1916 as the Baptist Theological College of New South Wales and it is owned and operated today by the Baptist Union of New South Wales and the Australian Capitol Territory (ACT). In the 19th C. Baptist ministers in Australia were either self-taught or traveled the long distance to Britain (more rarely, the U.S.–though this is becoming more common) to be educated in their theological colleges. After founding this college, the Baptists of NSW added a Bible College for those without academic credentials. The two institutions were combined and renamed in the 1990s after Rev. G. H. Morling, an early principal of the college. It currently is situated on the campus of Macquarrie University. The relationship with Macquarrie University is unclear from the Morling website. Morling has a stellar faculty and offers certificate and Bible College undergraduate degrees, graduate and professional degrees (including the M.Div.) and post-graduate degrees including the D. Min. and Th.D., but not the Ph.D. There is a certificate program in Cantonese, but all other degree programs are conducted in English. Morling also runs a Tinsley Institute which promotes counseling, Christian ethics, and the development of public theology.

Philippines Baptist Theological Seminary, 19 Tacay Road, Guisad, Baguio City 2600 Philippines. Established in 1952. Includes undergraduate programs, and degrees for those who are college graduates, including the Master of Divinity. Through AGBTS, it offers access to postgraduate degrees. Joyce Aguban has just become the first woman President of the Seminary.

Ramayapatnam Baptist Theological Seminary, Ramayapatnam, India. Founded in the 19th C. by American (Northern) Baptists. In 1964 it became completely merged into the amalmagated ecumenical Andhra Christian Theological Seminary in Andhra Pradesh.

Serampore College (University), 712 Serampore, Hooghly, West Bengal, India. Founded in 1818 by the “Serampore Trio” of Carey, Marshman, and Ward, the 3 British Baptist missionaries who began the modern mission movement. Given a Royal Charter in 1918. Given university status in 1918. The ecumenical Senate of Serampore College ratifies most of the degrees in the various Christian institutions throughout India.

Vose Seminary 20 Hayman Road, Bentley,Perth, Western Australia 6102 AUSTRALIA. Founded in 1963 as the Baptist Theological College of Western Australia, this is the seminary of the Baptist Churches of Western Australia. In 2008 the seminary was renamed to emphasize its identity as a seminary of the churches (not simply a university based divinity school) and to honor former Principal Noel Vose and his late wife, Heather, a famed Baptist historian. In the 1980s, the Baptist College of Theology joined with seminaries of other denominations to form the Perth College of Divinity and offer high level courses (through the Ph.D.) through Murdoch University. Faculty were jointly hired by Murdoch University’s Faculty of the Religious Studies and by Baptist Theological College. For reasons not explained, that relationship has been severed and Vose Seminary’s degrees are now accredited through the Australian College of Theology, a nationally accredited consortium of 20 seminaries and theological colleges. The result is that now Vose Seminary, while still having undergraduate and certificate programs, the M.Div. and M.A. degrees for those with university-level undergraduate degrees, it no longer offers students a chance to study for Ph.D.s. I suspect that this is connected to the name-change and severance with Murdoch. I suspect that the Baptists of Western Australia believed, rightly or wrongly, that BTC was becoming more identified with advanced academic work in theology and less with preparing church leaders–more university oriented and less church-oriented. (My previous aquaintance with members of BTC leads me to doubt if this was true, but perception is everything when one is keeping a seminary on good terms with supporting churches!)

Whitley College 271 Royal Parade, Parkville, Victoria 3052 Australia. Similarly to Regent’s Park College, Oxford, Whitley College is both a residential undergraduate college of the University of Melbourne and a Baptist Theological College preparing leadership for the Baptist Union of Victoria. Whitley Theological College is a constituent member of the Melbourne College of Divinity, the consortium of theological colleges which jointly make up the theological faculty of the University of Melbourne. All Whitley degrees are accredited through the University of Melbourne. The oldest Baptist college in Australia, it was founded in 1891 by Rev. William Whitley and is named after him. The residential college, offering a Baptist setting for University of Melbourne students, was founded in 1965. The theological college (the Baptist College of Victoria) offers 3 diploma programs, a Bachelor of Theology, 5 Masters degrees (including the M.Div.) and 3 doctorates (Doctor of Ministerial Studies, Doctor of Theology, and Ph.D.). This is Australia’s most prestigious theological college and for good reason.

III. Africa

Christians of many denominations of study through Theological Education by Extension (TEE) throughout the continent of Africa due to the distances for travel, the poverty and other harsh conditions throughout most of the continent.

Baptist Biblical Seminary of Madagascar, Antsirabe, Madagascar.

Baptist Theological Seminary of Malawi, Lilongwe, Malawi.

Baptist Theological Seminary of Zambia, Woodlands, Lusaka, Zambia.

Baptist Theological Seminary of Zimbabwe, Gweru, Zimbabwe.

The Baptist Theological College of Southern Africa. 260 Oak Avenue, Randburg, Republic of South Africa. Mailing Address: P.O. Box 50710, Randburg, Gauteng 2125 Republic of South Africa. Founded in 1951 by the Baptist Union of Southern Africa. Ministers well beyond the Baptist denomination, although all teachers are Baptist. Accredited through various departments of the government educational ministries. There is also a longstanding partnership with the University of Zululand. Coursework is in English. Offers various certificates, a Bachelor of Theology and (for students who have completed B.A. or B.Sc. at accredited institutions) a Master of Theology degree that includes coursework and a dissertation.

Cameroon Baptist Theological Seminary, Ndu, Cameroon.

The Capetown Baptist Seminary, 52-64 Tarentaal Road, Bridgetown 7766, Capetown, Republic of South Africa. Mailing address: P.O. Box 38473, Gatesville 7766, Capetown, Republic of South Africa. Originally known as the Baptist Theological Seminary of Capetown, this was founded in 1974 by the Baptist Union of South Africa. Offers two undergraduate degrees (Bachelor of Ministry and Bachelor of Theology degrees), several certificate programs and the B.A. (Hons.) in Theology, M.Phil. in Applied Theology (requiring a non theological bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution) and the M.A., and Ph.D. The B.A. and postgraduate degrees are validated through the University of Pretoria.

Acadia Divinity College, 31 Horton Avenue, Wolfville, Nova Scotia B4P 2R6 Canada. Seminary of the Convention of Atlantic Baptist Churches. Founded in 1838. On the campus of Acadia University–which was founded by Baptists, but is now a secular university. Offers the Bachelor of Theology, Master of Divinity, Master of Arts in Theology and Doctor of Ministry degrees, as well as several diploma programs.

Carey Theological College, 5920 Iona Drive, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1 J6 Canada. The seminary of the Baptist Union of Western Canada. Founded in 1959 by the Baptist Convention of British Columbia as “Carey Hall,” it expanded to present form and connection to the wider BUWC in 1975. Carey Theological College (named after pioneer Baptist missionary William Carey) is located on the campus of the University of British Columbia and offers the Master of Divinity, Master of Pastoral Ministry, and Doctor of Ministry degrees. There is a Chinese Ministries program for students who speak Mandarin or Cantonese–since Chinese immigrants have been ever larger in Western Canada since the 19th C. and Chinese-language churches are among the fastest growing for all Canadian Baptists. .

McMaster Divinity College, 1280 Main Street W., Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1 Canada. The seminary of the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec. This is the oldest of Canadian Baptist seminaries, with a pre-history that began in Montreal in 1838, but that effort died in 1849. A new start began in Toronto in 1857 which gained in strength (and a new name) after a wealthy donor named William McMaster gave generously to the school. It moved to Hamilton in 1928 and became part of McMaster University. In 1957, McMaster University ceased to be Baptist and became a state-run university, but the Divinity College is still Baptist and evangelical–these days emphasizing more its evangelical than Baptist identity. (McMaster was once considered a hotbed of Canadian Baptist liberalism, but today it strongly champions its evangelical identity–though a progressive, open, form of evangelicalism.) Offers M.Div. and Master of Theological Studies, M.A., and Ph.D. degrees–the only Baptist school in Canada to offer a research doctorate accredited by the Association of Theological Schools of Canada and the U.S.

Taylor Seminary 11525-23 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T64 4T3 Canada. Founded in 1939 as Edmonton Baptist Theological Seminary, this is the Canadian seminary of the North American Baptist Conference–the old ethnic-German Baptist Convention, an immigrant denomination that is located primarily in the Upper Midwest of the U.S. and Western Canada.

V. United States

I will not list the seminaries of the SBC because, since the fundamentalist takeover, they have ceased to be authentically Baptist. If you want to find them, surf the web.

American Baptist Seminary of the West, 2606 Dwight Way, Berkeley, CA 94704-3029 USA. Founded by California Baptists in 1871 as California College. Moved from Vacaville to Oakland in 1887. In 1912 it relocated to Berkeley and became Berkeley Baptist Divinity School. Three years later (1915), Berkeley Baptist Divinity School merged with Pacific Coast Baptist Seminary, begun in 1890 in Oakland and moved to Berkeley in 1904. Through these mergers the name Berkeley Baptist Divinity School stayed until a final merger in 1968. California Baptist Theological Seminary, founded in 1944 on the campus of Temple Baptist Church in Los Angeles, was no longer financially viable and moved its assetts and faculty north to Berkeley. The resulting 1968 merger was given the present name of American Baptist Seminary of the West. ABSW is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches, USA and the (predominantly African-American) Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. In 1962, ABSW became one of the charter members of the Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley, a consortium of nine (9) different theological seminaries in the Berkeley-Oakland-San Francisco area which share faculty and resources and a connection to the University of California at Berkeley. On its own, ABSW offers the M.Div. and the M.A. in Community Leadership (both accredited through the Association of Theological Schools ). It also offers a joint M.A. program with the Graduate Theological Union and ABSW students can pursue both Th.D. and Ph.D. programs at GTU, plus a D.Min. program run jointly with Bakke Graduate University in Seattle, WA, two Ph.D.s through the University of California, Berkeley. ABSW has one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse faculties and student bodies of any seminary in North America and cross-cultural ministry is central to its mission.

Andover Newton Theological Seminary, 210 Herrick Road, Newton Centre, MA 02459 USA. Jointly affiliated with the American Baptist Churches, USA and the United Church of Christ, although both students and faculty come from more Christian traditions. Andover Theological Seminary, the nation’s oldest graduate (post-bachelor’s degree) theological seminary, was founded in 1807 by Congregationalists (heirs of the Pilgrims and Puritans) alarmed that Harvard had “gone Unitarian.” Many Baptist leaders were educated at Andover, including pioneering missionaries Adonirom and Ann Judson and Luther Rice. When Baptists in the U.S. sought to build their own first graduate seminary, Andover was a natural model. Rev. Ira Chase (1793-1864), himself an Andover alumnus, drew up the first charter for Newton Theological Institution and located it nearby in Newton Centre in 1825. The two schools cooperated closely from the beginning and they merged in the 1920s–the first ecumenical seminary in the nation. Today,Andover Newton offers 7 M.Div. and M.A. programs, and a D. Min. It’s Field Education Program was sited in a national study as one of the most innovative and effective in the nation. It has numerous cross-cultural programs for African American and Latino churches and a joint interfaith program with Hebrew College for Jewish Christian dialogue as well as new programs in ecological ministry.

B. H. Caroll Theological Institute. 301 S. Center Street, Suite 100, Arlington , TX , 76010 USA. Named after the founding president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Founded in 1905, the 2nd SBC seminary and one of the largest seminaries of any kind in the world.), this “seminary without walls,” is an independent theological institution “in the Baptist tradition” and with a focus on serving Baptist churches. In addition to diplomas in Church Ministry and Church Planting, B. H. Carroll institute awards the M.Div., an M.Div. with a chaplaincy focus, an M.A. in Counseling, an M.A. in Christian Education, a Master of Music in Church Music (M.M.), Master of Arts in Worship, a Doctor of Ministry degree, and the research doctorate (Ph.D.).

Baptist Seminary of Kentucky. Limestone Street, Lexington, KY 40508. USA. With a pre-history dating to 1995, Baptist Seminary of Kentucky was founded in 2001 as a traditional, historic, mainstream Baptist response to the fundamentalist direction of the Southern Baptist Convention and its purge of the once-excellent Southern Baptist seminaries. Closely affiliated with the Kentucky Baptist Fellowship and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Baptist Seminary of Kentucky shares the campus of Lexington Theological Seminary, an ecumenical seminary of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). It is also near the campus of the University of Kentucky. The seminary is seeking, but has not yet received accreditation by the Association of Theological Schools–but is following the standards and guidelines of the ATS in the meantime. As of yet, if offers only the Master of Divinity, though a Pastoral Care and Counseling concentration is available. BSKY is served by excellent faculty, but most are either adjunct (pastors or teachers in other institutions) or are semi-retired.

Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, 3400 B rook Road, Richmond, VA 23227. USA. BTSR was founded in 1991 by the Southern Baptist Alliance (now called the Alliance of Baptists) as an alternative to the conservative-to-fundamentalist direction blowing in seminaries of the Southern Baptist Convention due to the fundamentalist takeover. It shares a campus with Union Theological Seminary-Presbyterian School of Christian Education, but has its own faculty and programs. It is connected most closely today with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, another Baptist body that left the SBC to preserve historic Baptist freedoms and identity.

Beeson Divinity School of Samford University, 800 Lakeshore Dr., Birmingham, AL 35229. An evangelical and confessional seminary that is interdenominational but housed in a Baptist university with a founding dean who is a key figure in the Southern Baptist Convention.

Bethel Seminary of Bethel University, 3949 Bethel Drive, St. Paul, MN 55112. Extensions exist in Auburn, MA, Drescher, PA, Glenarden, MD, Queens, NY, and a complete second campus in San Diego, CA. The main seminary in St. Paul, MN was founded in 1871 by Rev. John Edgren for the training of pastors among Scandinavian-immigrant Baptists, most of whom spoke Swedish at home and in worship. These Swedish Baptists evolved into a non-ethnic evangelical Baptist denomination, the Baptist General Conference, which retains a Swedish pietism, now found throughout the U.S., but still strongest in the upper Mid-West. For the first 50 years, Bethel Seminary was the Swedish Department of the Baptist Seminary at Morgan Park outside Chicago and its successor institution, the University of Chicago Divinity School (which was Baptist-affiliated until the 1960s). In 1914, the Baptist General Conference assumed full responsibility and moved the seminary to St. Paul, MN. The San Diego campus opened in 1977, and the “Seminary of the East” extensions opened in 1983, growing out of efforts by the Conservative Baptist Association, a denomination with much in common with the Baptist General Conference.

Campbell University Divinity School, 116 T. T. Lanier Street, Buies Creek, North Carolina 27506. Mailing address: P.O. Drawer 4050, Buies Creek, North Carolina, 27506. USA. Closely related to the Baptist Convention of North Carolina and affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Campbell University was founded by North Carolina Baptists in 1887 and ministerial formation was always a key motivation. In the 1960s and again in the 1970s, feasibility studies were launched about the formation of a divinity school at the university, but it did not emerge until 1996, as one of many centrist Baptist reactions to the fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention and the SBC seminaries. It has fostered ties with the Baptist College of South Wales (Cardiff). The school offers the M.Div., the M.A. in Christian Education, a joint M.Div./M.B.A. (in conjunction with Campbell University School of Business), and a joint M.Div./M.A. in Community Counseling, as well as a D. Min. degree. All degrees are accredited by the Association of Theological Schools.

Chapman Seminary of Oakland City University, 138 N. Lucretia Street, Oakland City, IN 47660 USA. The General Association of General Baptists opened Oakland City College in 1891 which developed into a thriving university until the Great Depression of the 1930s. The school nearly closed and, after thriving again in the 1950s, fell under hard times during the Vietnam War. In the 1990s, it again achieved University status and the Chapman School of Religious Education developed into Chapman Seminary, offering accredited M.Div. and D. Min. degrees.

Central Baptist Theological Seminary6601 Monticello Road, Shawnee, KS 66226-3513 USA. Founded in 1901 (in Kansas City, KS) as a joint seminary of the Northern Baptist Convention (now American Baptist Churches, USA) and the Southern Baptist Convention, Central BTS was hurt both financially and in other ways when Southern Baptists pulled out in 1950 to form Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in nearby Kansas City, MO! It limped along for decades, but in the early 1990s, Central BTS began making bold moves at reinvigoration: Offering new partnerships with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. and hiring some Southern Baptist professors who lost jobs due to the fundamentalist takeover. The most important of these hirings was Dr. Molly T. Marshall as Professor of Christian Theology, Worship, and Spiritual Formation. In the early 2000s, Dr. Marshall became President of CBTS and worked to secure its finances, reconnect it more closely to churches, and innovate its programs. The expensive property in Kansas City was sold and more reasonably priced property purchased in nearby Shawnee, KS. Central offers the M.Div., the M.A. (Theological Studies), M.A. (Missional Studies), certificates, and the D.Min.

Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, 1100 South Goodman Street, Rochester, NY 14620 USA. Affiliated closely with the American Baptist Churches, USA, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School has been formed by a series of joinings and leavings. In 1817, New York Baptists formed the Hamilton Theological and Literary Institute, the oldest BAPTIST seminary in the country–and less than a decade older than Andover Theological Seminary. Hamilton quickly became Colgate Theological Seminary as Colgate University was formed. Throughout its history Colgate Theological Seminary was known for academic freedom and pioneering theologyand deep concern for social justice. In 1850, a group of Baptists wanted to move Colgate to a more urban setting, but this failed, resulting in the formation of Rochester Theological Seminary as a separate instituion. . The 2 schools merged in 1928 as Colgate Rochester Divinity School. The Women’s Baptist Missionary Training School, founded in 1881, merged with the seminary on the hill in 1961. In 1867, industrialist John Crozer donated money to help Baptists found the small, elite, Crozer Theological Seminary in Upland, PA. In 1970, Crozer also merged with Colgate Rochester. With this all the Baptist elements of this rich school were aligned as Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School.

Denver Seminary. 6399 S. Santa Fe Drive, Littleton, CO 80120 USA. Founded in 1950 by the Conservative Baptist Association as Denver Conservative Baptist Seminary. In the 1980s, the name was changed to “Denver Seminary.” Although the seminary always drew from wider in the evangelical spectrum than Conservative Baptists–both for faculty and students–since the 1980s, it has become essentially another multi-denominational evangelical seminary in the company of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Fuller Theological Seminary, and others. But, unlike say, the University of Chicago Divinity School, which was founded by Baptists but no longer has any Baptist connections, there is still a strong Baptist presence in both faculty and students at Denver.

(John)Leland Center for Theological Studies, 405 N. Washington Street, Suite 200, Falls Church, VA 22406 USA. Founded in 1997 by the Baptist General Association of Virgina, the John Leland Center for Theological Studies is named after pioneer 18th C. Virginia Baptist leader, Elder John Leland. It is an attempt to reclaim the Baptist traditions of freedom from fundamentalism. The Center holds Leland School of Ministry which offers diploma and certificate programs, and Leland Seminary for those with accredited undergraduate degrees. The seminary offers the M.Div., Master of Theological Studies, and the M.A. in Christian Leadership, all accredited by the Association of Theological Schools. The small faculty is international in origin and education and there is a focus on global Christianity, but there is a somewhat more conservativ atmosphere than at nearby BTSR.

Logsdon Seminary of Logsdon School of Theology of Hardin-Simmons University. 2200 Hickory Street, P.O. Box 16235, Abilene, TX 79698-6235 USA. Hardin-Simmons University (HSU) was founded in 1891 as Abilene Baptist College by the Sweetwater Baptist Association of Texas. The education of ministers was a purpose from the beginning. In 1983, HSU’s Department of Religion was given a large gift by Koreen Logsdon in memory of her husband Charles Logson who died in 1981. This led to the expansion and renaming of the department as the Logsdon School of Theology. In 1995, LST began offering the M.Div. degree in addition to its previous undergraduate degrees. Although smaller and having a more gradual development, it is clear that Logsdon Seminary is also a centrist Baptist response to the fundamentalist takeover of the SBC. The majority of its faculty are former faculty members of SBC seminaries and the rest were students of the SBC seminaries prior to the fundamentalist takeover. Logsdon is closely connected to the Baptist General Convention of Texas and more loosely related to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

(James and Carolyn) McAfee School of Theology of Mercer University, 3001 Mercer University Drive, Atlanta, GA 30341-4115 USA. When Rev. Jesse Mercer founded Mercer U. with Georgia Baptists in 1833, it included a short-lived seminary, as well as a continuing undergraduate religion department (now called the Department of Christianity). As fundamentalist spread throughout the SBC seminaries in the 1980s, the trustees of Mercer University decided to re-found a university-based theological seminary did so, not on the main campus of Mercer in Macon, GA, but on their satellite campus in Atlanta in 1994. The school is named for James and Carolyn McAfee, wealthy Mercer alumni who gave the largest gift to the new seminary. Specifically rejecting fundamentalism, the guiding principles affirm that Jesus Christ (not the Bible) is the Word of God and center of authentic faith. The seminary’s professors range from progressively evangelical to neo-orthodox and post-liberal, but there are no tests of orthodoxy and no creeds–but rather strong affirmation of classic Baptist identity and convictions. McAfee partners with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

Northern Seminary, 660 East Butterfield Road, Lombard, IL 60148 USA. Like many U.S. seminaries, Northern began as a “protest school.” In this case, Nothern Baptists (now American Baptists), especially in the Midwest, became alarmed at the increasingly liberal bent of the University of Chicago Divinity School–and the way that it connected less and less with Baptist churches. (Today, there is no remaining Baptist presence at the U. of C. Divinity School, sadly.) In 1913, a group of laity from Second Baptist Church of Chicago decided to found a new seminary that would be more confessional and more directly responsible to the churches–focused on preparing ministers. Yet, although Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, as it was then called, was conservative in comparison with nearby U of C Div School, it was NOT fundamentalist–as, from the beginning it was open to preparing women as well as men for the ministry. The first graduate was Amy Lee Stockton of California (Class of ’17) who went on to become an effective evangelist and Bible teacher. By 1920, the Northern Baptist Convention (now American Baptist Churches, USA) recognized Northern as one of its seminaries. Northern provided leadership for the “new evangelicals” of the 1940s, with many of the founders of Fuller Theological Seminary alumni of NBTS. NBTS pioneered in global theological education, too. During the 2000s, Northern dropped the Baptist name in order to attract evangelical students from non-Baptist backgrounds, but it retains its denominational affiliation with the ABC. Financial difficulties plagued the school in the ’90s and early 21st C., but most of these seem now resolved and Northern now has sattelite extensions throughout Illinois. It offers the M.Div. (with several concentrations), the M.A. (Theology), the M.A. in Christian Ministry, and the D.Min.

Palmer Theological Seminary of Eastern University, 6 East Lancaster Avenue, Wynnewood, PA 19096-3494 USA. Just as Northern Seminary began as a protest of the direction taken by the University of Chicago Divinity School, so Palmer began as a protest of the liberalism of Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, PA, which was to become the alma mater of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and is today incorporated as part of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School. Pennsylvania area Baptists wanted a seminary whose faculty were committed to traditional Baptist orthodoxy and a high view of Scripture, but which would avoid the narrowness they saw in other conservative institutions. They wanted a seminary whose ethos would be “conservative, yet progressive.” With this in mind, they founded Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Philadelphia in 1925–at the height of the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy. For 15 years, EBTS remained in Philadelphia before moving to Wynnewood on the edge of the city, with more room for growth–yet not too far. EBTS has concentrated on urban and intercultural ministry from its beginnings. A commitment to undergraduate education led to the creation of EBTS’ sister institution, Eastern Baptist College, in 1952. EBC moved to St. David’s, PA and changed its named to Eastern College in 1973, quickly becoming a major evangelical liberal arts college. In 2001, Eastern College became Eastern University with the adoption of a limited number of graduate programs. In 2004, the two institutions re-united, with EBTS becoming the seminary of Eastern University. In 2005, EBTS was re-named Palmer Theological Seminary after a generous donor. Committed to “the whole gospel for the whole world,” Palmer continues a conservative view of Scripture and a commitment to evangelical theology, but an equally strong commitment to racial justice, equality of the sexes (and the promotion of women in ministry), economic justice, multi-cultural awareness and a commitment to peacemaking. Both students and faculty are very racially and ethnically diverse.

(Samuel DeWitt) Proctor School of Theology of Virginia Union University, 1500 N. Lombardy Street, Richmond, VA 23220 USA. At the end of the U.S. Civil War in 1865, members of the American Baptist Home Mission Society a “National Theological Institute” to help newly freed slaves who wanted to prepare for the Baptist ministry–as slaves many had been punished for even learning to read. But this Institute quickly split into Wayland Seminary (various locations in Washington, D.C.), named after Dr. Francis Wayland, Baptist president of Brown University who had strongly opposed slavery, Richmond Theological Seminary, Storer College (Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia), and Hartshorne Memorial College (founded in 1883), the first college for African American women. In 1899, Wayland Seminary (whose alumni would include Dr. Booker T. Washington!) would merge with Richmond Theological Seminary to form Virginia Union University. In 1932, Hartshorne Memorial College merged with VUU, making it co-educational and in 1964, Storer College joined VUU. Upon the death of Rev. Dr. Samuel DeWitt Proctor (1921-1997), the VUU School of Theology was renamed in his honor. Proctor was an amazing African-American educator: An alumnus of VUU (B.A., class of ’42), he prepared for the Baptist ministry at Crozer Theological Seminary (B.D., class of ’45), and earned a Ph.D. in theology at Boston University (’50). Gave a lecture at his alma mater, Crozer, where he met and befriended Martin Luther King, Jr. (influencing King to also do Ph.D. work at Boston University). Proctor had been Professor and Dead at VUU (’50-’55), then president of VUU (’55-’60). He was president of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College from ’60-’63 (arriving in the midst of the Sit-Ins!), was first Director of the Peace Corps (’63-’64), served a year as president of the National Council of Churches (’64-’65), and was Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Education at Rutgers University from 1969 until retirement in 1984. He pastored several churches including the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem (1972-1989). During all this work, Proctor continued to raise funds and otherwise help out VUU. The Proctor School of Theology offers the M.Div., the M.A. in Christian Education, and the D.Min., all accredited by the Association of Theological Schools. Although it still mostly ministers to African-American students, a number of its 380 students are white, Latino, or come from other nations. Proctor School of Theology is a part of both the Richmond Theological Consortium and the Washington Theological Consortium.

Shaw University Divinity School, 118 East South Street, Raleigh, NC 27601 USA. Founded in 1865 by missionaries with the American Baptist Home Mission Society, Shaw University and Shaw University Divinity School today are owned and operated by the General Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, with strong ties to all the major Black Baptist bodies: the National Baptist Convention, USA, the National Baptist Convention of America, the Progressive National Baptist Convention, and the National Missionary Baptist Convention. The Divinity School offers the Master of Divinity and Master of Religious Education degrees, both accredited by the Association of Theological Schools. Shaw’s programs would be strengthened if it followed Proctor’s example and involved itself in consortia partnerships with nearby institutions such as Duke University Divinity School (United Methodist, Durham, NC) & Wake Forest University Divinity School (ecumenical and Baptist).

Sioux Falls Seminary, 2100 South Summit Avenue, Sioux Falls, SD 57105 USA. Founded by the ethnic “German Baptist Convention,” which evolved beyond being an immigrant denomination to the North American Baptist Conference. The school began as the “German Department” of Rochester Theological Seminary in 1858, a Department whose most famous alumnus (and later professor of Church History) was WalterRauschenbusch (1861-1918), the greatest theologian of the Social Gospel. It moved to Sioux Falls, SD in 1949, a smart move considering that members of the North American Baptist Conference are strongest in the upper Midwest of the U.S.A. and the Western provinces of Canada. (The North American Baptist seminary in Canada is Taylor Seminary in Edmonton.) Although all the faculty are Baptist and the school is responsible to the North American Baptist Conference, its student body averages 24 different denominations each year. Doubtless, this is why the name was changed in 2006 to Sioux Falls Seminary. The ethos of the school is evangelical and pietist. In addition to certificate programs, Sioux Falls Seminary offers 4 M.A. degrees (Bible and Theology; Counseling; Marriage and Family Therapy; Christian Leadership), the M.Div., and the D.Min.

(George W. ) Truett Theological Seminary of Baylor University, 1100 S. Third Street, One Bear Place, #97126, Waco, TX 76798-7126 USA. Baylor University has now launched not one, but two seminaries. The first became Southwestern BTS above. George W. Truett was one of Baylor’s most famous alumni, becoming pastor of FBC, Dallas, largest Baptist congregation in the world and a global champion of liberty of conscience, religious liberty, and separation of church and state. Though always conservative in his theology, he was also the lifelong opponent of the separatist fundamentalism of those like J. Frank Norris (who would pray allowed for Truett’s death!) and a defender of academic freedom in theological education. So, it is no surprise that the Baylor trustees registered the name “George W. Truett Theological Seminary” in 1990 in case they should ever want to found a seminary–fearing the worst about the rising fundamentalism at SWBTS. The Seminary opened at the beginning of the 1994-1995 academic year. Accredited by the Association of Theological Schools and the Council of Southwestern Theological Schools, Truett seminary is affiliated with and supported by the Baptist General Convention of Texas and is an institutional partner of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. There is a Texas-Baptist centrist-conservative ethos to Truett, similar to, but more academic than, the pre-fundamentalist ethos at SWBTS.

Wake Forest University Divinity School, P.O. Box, 7719, Reynolda Station, 1834 Wake Forest Road, Winston-Salem, NC 27109-7719 USA. As early as the 1940s, trustees and others considered developing a divinity school at the flagship Baptist College (now university) of North Carolina. When the Southern Baptist Convention decided to found Southeastern BTS instead, trustees sold the college campus to SEBTS and moved to nearby Winston-Salem where they could more easily expand. The denominational fissures in the SBC of the 1980s, however, reignited this dream. Fundraising began for a divinity school in the 1990s and the doors were opened in 1999. Not formally affiliated with any Baptist (or other) body, WFU Divinity School is “Christian by tradition, ecumenical in outlook, and Baptist by heritage.” The Baptist heritage informs, but does not insulate the school. Believing that theological study belongs in the context of both the church and the university, WFU students are taught not only traditional subjects in the Divinity School, but a variety of other subjects by teachers throughout the university. The ethos is ecumenical and progressive–creating in a global, post-modern context, the best of the “evangelical Baptist liberalism” of the old Colgate-Rochester or Andover-Newton, but in a decidedly Southern vein. The faculty are outstanding. The heart of the Divinity School curriculum is the M.Div degree. A dual degree of M.Div./M.A. in Counseling is offered in conjunction with the Department of Psychology in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Another dual degree of M.Div./J.D. is offered in conjunction with the Law School. Students must apply to and be accepted by both schools and, upon sucessful completion, are awarded both degrees. WFU Div has founded a Center for Religion and Public Affairs, a Bridging Faith Communities program, and a Center for Urban Ministry. The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences also offers an M.A. in Religious Studies not connected to the Divinity School.

Western Seminary, 5511 Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard, Portland, OR 97215 USA. Closely related to the Conservative Baptist Association of America, Western Seminary was initially organized by Walter Hinson as Portland Bible Insitute in 1925. By 1927, it had become Western Conservative Baptist Seminary. The present campus in Portland (5 acres) was aquired in 1944. There are extension campuses now in San Jose and Sacramento, CA. Although conservative evangelical in orientation, Western has also been innovative in educational theory, becoming one of the first U.S. seminaries to provide the D.Min. program as an advanced professional degree. It offers the M.Div. (without concentrations), 5 M.A. degrees (Counseling, Biblical and Theological Studies, Intercultural Studies, Marital and Family Therapy, and Specialized Ministry), the Master of Theology, D.Min, and Doctor of Missiology degrees. The ethos is conservative evangelical leaning toward fundamentalist.

(M. Christopher) White School of Divinity of Gardner-Webb University, 110 N. Main Street, Noel Hall, Boiling Springs, NC 28017 USA. Closely affiliated with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina. Founded by the trustees of Gardner-Webb University in 1992 as Gardner-Webb University Divinity School –another reaction to SBC fundamentalism. In 1998, the trustees renamed the school after former Gardner-Webb president M. Christopher White. Initially, it offered only the Master of Arts in Christian Ministries, but after consultation with the Association of Theological Schools, that was phased out for the M.Div. The school now offers two degrees, the M.Div., and the D.Min., both accredited by the Association of Theological Schools. The faculty and student body are both small and students tend to come almost entirely from the Southeast. The ethos is progressive evangelical.

There are also Baptist programs at non-Baptist institutions, seeking to give extra instruction to those preparing for Baptist ministry in non-Baptist settings:

Brite Divinity School of Texas Christian University, Ft. Worth, TX, is an ecumenical seminary closely related to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), but has a Baptist Program of Studies.

Candler School of Theology, of Emory University in Atlanta, GA, is a United Methodist seminary, but has a Baptist Program of Studies.

Duke University Divinity School is a United Methodist seminary, but has a Baptist House of Studies.

Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary 4201 Main Street, Columbia, SC 29203, is, as it’s name indicates, an official theological seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), but the student body is ecumenical and LTSS has a Program of Baptist Studies.

There have been rumblings about establishing such a “Baptist House” at Vanderbilt University Divinity School in Nashville, TN and at the (once Baptist) University of Chicago Divinity School. I heartily endorse both ideas and would further suggest broaching the idea with Harvard Divinity School and Yale University Divinity School, and Union Theological Seminary of New York, all of which have had a particular place of attraction for and conflict with Baptists over the years.

Seminario Internacional Teologica Bautista, Ramon L. Falcom-4080, C1407GSP, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Founded in 1911. Baptists from across the Southern Cone of South America come to study here. Offers the Bachelor of Theology degree and several certificate programs, as well as M.A. programs with several concentrations, the Master of Religious Education, Master of Theology, D.Min., and Ph.D. programs.

Dear Michael,
We would also like to be added to your list. We are not a SBC seminary, but have been in existence 10 years. We offer more than a dozen accredited Master-level, PhD, and DMin doctoral degrees. We are located in Arlington, Texas, and are a “seminary without walls.” We have more than 70 graduates, including 10 PhDs, all of whom have faculty positions at Baptist and other Universities around the globe.

Students may stay in their own ministry positions (with their support networks intact) anywhere in the world and go to school at Carroll. We offer face to face, online, zoom, and other methods of content delivery, and partner with programs in Cuba, Russia, China, and Vietnam, so that students can learn in their language of birth. Out electronic library is seeking to be the best in the world in several languages. See us at http://www.bhcarroll.edu.

About

Michael L. Westmoreland-White, Ph.D. Former academic theologian turned peace activist and educator. Married to the Rev. Kate Westmoreland-White, a Baptist minister who works at a Catholic charity for homeless people (St. Vincent de Paul Society). This is a theological blog from an Anabaptist, Social Gospel, and Liberation perspective. I expect Christians to be in permanent exile while the Lord tarries–not primarily citizens of their home countries, but of the Rule of God and the global church. I hope to interact with perspectives from around the world, although my own origin and social location remains in the U.S. South and among Blue Collar people.

Member: Jeff Street Baptist Community @ Liberty, Louisville, KY USA.

Denomination: Alliance of Baptists.

Member: Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America (BPFNA), Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists (AWAB), Citizens of Louisville Organized & United Together (CLOUT), Pentecostals and Charismatics for Peace with Justice (PCPJ), Fellowship of Reconciliation, Evangelicals for Human Rights, Peace Action, Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Baptist History and Heritage Society.

Note: The opinions I express on this blog are my own. They do not reflect some kind of “official” perspective for either my local Baptist congregation or any other organization with which I am affiliated.

Your author as a Church Father

You’re St. Justin Martyr!

You have a positive and hopeful attitude toward the world. You think that nature, history, and even the pagan philosophers were often guided by God in preparation for the Advent of the Christ. You find “seeds of the Word” in unexpected places. You’re patient and willing to explain the faith to unbelievers.